NRA backs Chambliss in U.S. Senate runoff

The National Rifle Association on Wednesday threw its support behind incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in Georgia’s Dec. 2 runoff, saying he fears Democratic challenger Jim Martin would help erode Second Amendment protections for gun owners.

“We’re going to have some real battles in Washington,” Wayne LaPierre, executive vice-president of the NRA, said Wednesday morning in Atlanta before traveling to Perry for a Chambliss rally.

LaPierre, speaking to reporters at Chambliss’s Cobb County headquarters, said he thinks President-elect Barack Obama will “break his promise” to protect gun rights. And he said that if Martin is elected, the Atlanta attorney and former state lawmaker will help hasten the erosion of gun rights in the United States.

Martin’s campaign immediately rejected that idea, saying Martin is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

“Jim supports the Second Amendment and will protect the rights of all law-abiding citizens to bear arms,” said Martin spokesman Matt Canter. “Saxby Chambliss is the one who wants to raise taxes on guns and ammunition with his support of a national sales tax.”

The NRA has about 150,000 members in Georgia and about 4 million nationwide.

LaPierre was in town a few hours before former President Bill Clinton arrives in Atlanta to campaign for Martin.

“That’s the same Bill Clinton who for eight years tried to destroy our rights,” NRA executive director Chris Cox said.

The Georgia Senate runoff is attracting a lengthening line of political A-listers as Democrats push for a 60-vote, filibuster-proof “super majority” in the upper chamber and Republicans pull out all stops to hold Chambliss’s seat.

The possibility of a 60-vote majority shot up overnight as Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens lost his seat in Alaska to a Democrat. The Democrats now have 58 seats - only races in Minnesota and Georgia have to be decided.

“If the Minnesota race is lost and this race is lost, they (Democrats) will have a blank check,” Chambliss told reporters and about three dozen gun-rights supporters who attended LaPierre’s endorsement.

Charles Bogle Jr., 75 of Sandy Springs came up to shake LaPierre’s hand at the end of the press conference.

“Don’t give up,” Bogle, a gun owner and hunter, told the NRA official.

“I won’t,” LaPierre replied. “This thing is going to be a battle. They (Democrats) are going to break their promises.”

Bogle said he fears a Democratic congress and president will work together to raise taxes on guns and ammunition. He said he thinks they will also place additional restrictions on gun ownership and tighten registration requirements.

“They will take them away from us,” Bogle said. “These people scare me to death.”